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Now that's a snotty comment, heh! But an honest opinion I'm sure. Please consider that I am not writing with you only as an audience. I don't know if you have any background in pu…
13 Dec 2010, 04:01
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Correct. This should have been clear from the portion of the discussion where I posited that Wolfe himself suggests there are seven levels of interpretation to his work. Perhaps we…
13 Dec 2010, 03:40
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Gerry you have painted youself into an atheist corner here. God is defined, in deepest essence, as supernatural. Not of this physical universe. You might as well admit the point bl…
12 Dec 2010, 21:49
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Gene Wolfe spent the decade before writing BotNS watching silly US TV shows with his kids as my parents did with me. The impact of 60's TV shows cannot be underestimated. I've pre…
12 Dec 2010, 21:36
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I am not nearly as familiar with Long Sun as BotNS but I'll give it a shot. In my opinion, Kypris' advice to Orchid is actually advice to herself. Her beloved Pas has been deleted…
12 Dec 2010, 21:24
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Thank you for that honest and incisive answer :- ). I think tying God to being compatible with the physical nature of the universe does suggest you are an unredeemable materialist.…
11 Dec 2010, 22:48
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This was an important enough response that I thought it needed its own entry. I will respond by saying you are wrong. Severian CAN be both a virgin and non-virgin. The reason is be…
11 Dec 2010, 22:27
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Good catch! My first thought is, "what does that say about Dux Caesidius?" I remain eternally skeptical of every established thing in the Commonwealth. If the Pelerines truly seek…
11 Dec 2010, 21:53
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I'm hoping I can be indulged in one last coda. In the discussion of sexual weirdnesses I had forgotten an anecdote from Roy C. Lackey that made me laugh. In analyzing the interlud…
11 Dec 2010, 19:14
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Very insightful! It is such an apt analysis you needn't even qualify it with "in part". The Meyers-Briggs assessment that has been discussed would describe you as a Sensory (S) t…
11 Dec 2010, 18:40
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Thanks for the interest in my theory and the responses to it. They are appreciated and helpful. I'm sure the admonitions are meant as a reminder to me and other readers here to not…
11 Dec 2010, 13:56
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I'll wrap up discussion of my Father Inire theory (which goes beyond just that character of course) by re-mentioning that its purpose for me is as a way of broadly reversing the to…
11 Dec 2010, 13:19
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In the past I've discussed my Father Inire theory in terms of all the possibilities of versions of him and his relevance to Severian's family tree so I'll skip over that for now I'…
11 Dec 2010, 05:10
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For the record this is definitely NOT my line of thinking. My theory works best (as it was largely inspired by) the words of Gene Wolfe in his James Jordan interview. For me, this …
11 Dec 2010, 04:05
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Yes, I admit that. On the other hand it's possible you know too much of them and as Andrew and Dan'l suggest, requiring me to distinguish them in every mention would wear out my s…
10 Dec 2010, 22:23
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This sounds a bit like the "Dionysus cannot have anything to do with lianas unless they have grapes on them, even if Gene Wolfe calls them vines" cavil. I am not an expert demonolo…
10 Dec 2010, 21:04
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Okay, have to answer that question. I see Erebus and Abaia as not so distinct as their naming might indicate. The end of RttW suggests Scylla and Abaia are not so separate either. …
10 Dec 2010, 19:55
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David this feels unfair. I am trying to be concise and brief in this limited format. When I say "The Devil" it is with the expectation that you will do some of the work for me and …
10 Dec 2010, 19:43
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Perhaps I chose my young woman-old crone illusion better than I knew. She is a shapeshifter isn't she? In fact I think the illusion-based portion of the Inhumi disguise works just…
10 Dec 2010, 19:23
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What is the deepest secret of the Inhumi? David, I think you once mentioned being non-religious (same for me). So it makes sense for you to see Devil references as metaphors. You…
10 Dec 2010, 18:31
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The optical illusion in my previous post is simple. Two perspectives. As we have discussed, Wolfe can be understood on far more than two levels. So yes, Father Inire can be seen as…
10 Dec 2010, 17:32
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David, at the risk of sounding condescending or arrogant I would like to try to explain something before specifically responding to your polite and insightful post. Are you fami…
10 Dec 2010, 17:00
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Well, that was a fruitful discussion. Heh.…
10 Dec 2010, 03:46
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No, you have interpreted incorrectly but I don't think it is your fault. I will try my best to explain. 1. Liana is not a word most Americans are familiar with. When we want to …
09 Dec 2010, 22:11
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FWIW- Having come from American academia I'll tesify that in my experience thesis and dissertation can be used somewhat interchangeably, especially informally. It is a pain to say …
09 Dec 2010, 20:49
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Gerry, again I think in your rush to convert interpretation of Gene Wolfe to mathematical principles you are missing the point. We are talking about the thought processes of an aut…
09 Dec 2010, 20:36
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I didn't know how to do that so I once set my account to block the emails and it ended up knocking me off the list. So now I just keep a dummy email account and let them pile up th…
09 Dec 2010, 19:01
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Almost identical to what I would respond. As a purely anecdotal bit of data, I'll report that the geography of my childhood and adulthood life is quite similar to Gene Wolfe's so i…
09 Dec 2010, 18:56
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Heh, I think you sell me short! Why not Erebus/Abaia himself? I may be a diabolical,manipulative monstrosity who breaks off little pieces of himself in the form of internet posts…
09 Dec 2010, 09:41
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Andrew I can't remember a problem I've had with your responses to my posts. You've always seemed respectful and constructive. Still, your thoughtful post deserves an honest answer …
09 Dec 2010, 00:59
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David Stockhoff: Argh, my worst nightmare realized! Bad enough to see Gerry hack, shrivel and distort my Inire theory down to one sentence in a reductio ad absurdum attemtpt. N…
08 Dec 2010, 16:35
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Gene Wolfe has referenced the process of the origin of myth through the course of his entire body of work. Are you suggesting he is just a hack who does nothing but pound us over t…
08 Dec 2010, 09:15
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Sure, I am not speaking for James. But elements in your argument with him pertain to our discussion. Instead you prefer to pare ideas down to what you consider bare essentials a…
08 Dec 2010, 08:43
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I expect you didn't put 6 years of work all in one >post though. Either way, I, for one, don't have a clear idea of what your theory is. I think the various bits I've read are …
07 Dec 2010, 20:53
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I could accept that as a working principle. But then we have to discuss how many levels of understanding there are. Severian is required to recite the 7 levels in regard to governa…
07 Dec 2010, 19:38
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Heh! good response Gerry. Provides some insight into your thinking. The "people" you mention are all me, I'm afraid. I noticed some eyes batting. Didn't you? I hope you weren't o…
07 Dec 2010, 17:55
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I don't remember the cynocephalus making any noise. It just seems to look in on Severian then leave. There are revelations about Oreb at the end of RttWhorl which do involve the li…
07 Dec 2010, 16:03
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If this were the case I'd expect to see something in the text which reflects this. In the Cumaean I think there may be a hint of weariness in her voice. But quite the opposite for …
07 Dec 2010, 12:44
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Roy- > " 'My name is Horn.' I offered my hand. He took it, and this time I felt his hand _and remembered it_ . It was I'm glad the conversation in this thread has drifted back t…
07 Dec 2010, 09:30
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Since that entity had Horn's body and memories mustn't we define him, within James' theory, as part-human part-Neighbor? I think there is a long tradition of legends and folk her…
06 Dec 2010, 20:43
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My thoughts went in the same direction as Jeff's. Typhon does refer to Piaton as his "steed". Nah, Jeff was being deliberately cryptic. It is a reference to Alexander's beloved …
06 Dec 2010, 19:06
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Yeah, such ideas were all the rage in the early 70's, just before BotNS was being written. I think Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods was the peak of it. I've always thought it mig…
06 Dec 2010, 18:21
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Ouen makes the statement in regard to a locket and perhaps some other items, maybe a hairbrush and mirror (sorry I have not got the text with me). I guess a corpse could be constru…
06 Dec 2010, 18:05
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This is a bizarrely coincidental post given James' recent entry. Had you seen the post below, Ryan? I'm starting to feel like a puppet myself. How are you guys able to corres…
06 Dec 2010, 15:52
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IIRC, Ouen says his father had a problem with holding onto material possessions (FWIW a trait shared by Fechin). He had to get the locket out of hock, to get it back. (this might…
06 Dec 2010, 15:08
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I can agree with your thinking. Moreover if we parse Ouen's statement more tightly: we could infer that Ouen finds the name "Cas" and "died when I was young" to be fact but "in …
06 Dec 2010, 12:51
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I see clues that Inire is patterned after Pan who could create his own legion of helpers. Why is this so much less plausible than a character patterned after Alexander? Are you sug…
06 Dec 2010, 12:34
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Borski takes this to imply that Dorcas had a pregnancy and birth after Ouen. I agree that it is a strange (though not impossible) turn of phrase to refer to one's self at birth as …
06 Dec 2010, 11:00
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Who is the judge on whether the text supports or contradicts a theory? I think the only defensible answer to this question is: Each of us, for ourselves. You both misunderstand …
06 Dec 2010, 02:59
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It will. I have already been waiting for you to post it, with anticipation. Yes, it says that in the text. But is that all the text says? The text also gives them an angelic app…
06 Dec 2010, 01:33
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